I'd love to make a pilgrimage to Norway in order to venerate the relics of st. Olav if they are still available somewhere.

His relics are kept in Nidarosdomen in Trondheim, but I don't think you'd actually be able to venerate them. I hope to go there soon too. I had a chat with an Orthodox deacon in Oslo a couple weeks ago, and was surprised to learn that St. Olav's father was actually catechised in Constantinople and, after his baptism in England, was stationed in Kiev where he possibly played a part (albeit a very small one) in the Christianisation of the Slavs. I was also told that Ss. Theodore and John (983), the first saints to be added to the Russian Church calendar, were of either Norwegian or Swedish origin.

His relics are kept in Nidarosdomen in Trondheim, but I don't think you'd actually be able to venerate them.

In Finland Finnish National Board of Antiques and Catholics have argued about who has the right to own the relics of Henry of Finland i.e. the national RC saint of Finland. Hasn't there been anything like that in Norway? St. Olaf must be quite quite important to Catholics in Norway so I'm suprised if they haven't demanded some kind of right to venerate the relics.

Btw, Nidarosdomen must be one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen.

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I had a chat with an Orthodox deacon in Oslo a couple weeks ago, and was surprised to learn that St. Olav's father was actually catechised in Constantinople and, after his baptism in England, was stationed in Kiev where he possibly played a part (albeit a very small one) in the Christianisation of the Slavs. I was also told that Ss. Theodore and John (983), the first saints to be added to the Russian Church calendar, were of either Norwegian or Swedish origin.

I'd love to read more about St. Olav so if you could point out any information about him I'd be grateful.

In Finland Finnish National Board of Antiques and Catholics have argued about who has the right to own the relics of Henry of Finland i.e. the national RC saint of Finland. Hasn't there been anything like that in Norway? St. Olaf must be quite quite important to Catholics in Norway so I'm suprised if they haven't demanded some kind of right to venerate the relics.

I'd love to read more about St. Olav so if you could point out any information about him I'd be grateful.

Norway's Catholic population are a fairly insignificant minority, but it's possible that there's some kind of arrangement. I haven't got a clue to be honest.

Snorre Sturlasson's Sagas are a good source of information. I don't know how easy it is to get hold of an English edition.

The Norwegian sounds to me an awful lot like Byzantine style chant, whereas the Swedish sounds like Russian style. Am I mistaken about this?

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His relics are kept in Nidarosdomen in Trondheim, but I don't think you'd actually be able to venerate them.

In Finland Finnish National Board of Antiques and Catholics have argued about who has the right to own the relics of Henry of Finland i.e. the national RC saint of Finland. Hasn't there been anything like that in Norway? St. Olaf must be quite quite important to Catholics in Norway so I'm suprised if they haven't demanded some kind of right to venerate the relics.

He is also important for the Norwegian state, which under the articles of the 1814 Constitution still in force (and still in Danish) the King must profess, defend and govern the Lutheran church, to which over half of the cabinet must belong, and the constitution obligates Lutherans to raise their children in it. The Norwegian Law of Succession, adopted in 1163, decreed that future kings of Norway should not be considered kings in their own right, but rather as vassals governing in the absence of Saint Olaf. Given all that, the authorities might be uneasy about St. Olav's non-Lutheran Faith being brought up via veneration. When I asked about the relics (I said the grave) when I was in Trondheim in '87, I was told that they were reburied when the silver reliquery was melted down when the Reformation was imposed (unlike Sweden and Denmark, not a popular movement).

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Btw, Nidarosdomen must be one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen.

Yes. May it become a site of pilgrimage again!

And the town isn't bad either.

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I had a chat with an Orthodox deacon in Oslo a couple weeks ago, and was surprised to learn that St. Olav's father was actually catechised in Constantinople and, after his baptism in England, was stationed in Kiev where he possibly played a part (albeit a very small one) in the Christianisation of the Slavs. I was also told that Ss. Theodore and John (983), the first saints to be added to the Russian Church calendar, were of either Norwegian or Swedish origin.

I'd love to read more about St. Olav so if you could point out any information about him I'd be grateful.

Somewhere here I posted a bunch of stuff, IIRC there was a Church of St. Olav in Novgorod.

« Last Edit: November 29, 2010, 11:34:18 PM by ialmisry »

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

His relics are kept in Nidarosdomen in Trondheim, but I don't think you'd actually be able to venerate them.

In Finland Finnish National Board of Antiques and Catholics have argued about who has the right to own the relics of Henry of Finland i.e. the national RC saint of Finland. Hasn't there been anything like that in Norway? St. Olaf must be quite quite important to Catholics in Norway so I'm suprised if they haven't demanded some kind of right to venerate the relics.

Btw, Nidarosdomen must be one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen.

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I had a chat with an Orthodox deacon in Oslo a couple weeks ago, and was surprised to learn that St. Olav's father was actually catechised in Constantinople and, after his baptism in England, was stationed in Kiev where he possibly played a part (albeit a very small one) in the Christianisation of the Slavs. I was also told that Ss. Theodore and John (983), the first saints to be added to the Russian Church calendar, were of either Norwegian or Swedish origin.

I'd love to read more about St. Olav so if you could point out any information about him I'd be grateful.

His family married into the family of St. Vladimir

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Harald Sigurdsson (1015 – September 25, 1066), later given the epithet Hardrada (Old Norse: Haraldr harðráði, roughly translated as "stern counsel" or "hard ruler", Hardråde in contemporary Norwegian) was the king of Norway from 1047[1] until 1066. He also claimed to be the King of Denmark until 1064, often defeating King Sweyn's army and forcing him to leave the country. Many details of his life were chronicled in the Heimskringla and other Icelandic sources. Among English-speakers, he is generally remembered for his invasion of England in 1066. Harald's death is often recorded as the end of the Viking Age.

Harald was the youngest of King Olaf II's three half-brothers born to Åsta Gudbrandsdatter. His father was Åsta's second husband Sigurd Syr. The Icelandic sources, in particular Heimskringla, state that Sigurd, like Olaf's father, was a great-grandson of Harald I of Norway (Harald Fairhair) in the male line. However, many modern scholars believe that the ancestors attributed to Harald, along with other parts of the Fairhair genealogy, are inventions reflecting the political and social expectations of the time of the authors rather than historical reality.[2]

Harald took part, on the side of Olaf, in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. Although wounded, he managed to escape, leaving Norway in exile. He was able to form a band of warriors out of men who had also been exiled as a result of Olaf's death.

In 1031 Harald and his men reached the land of the Kievan Rus, where they served the armies of Yaroslav I the Wise, the Grand Prince of the Rus, whose wife Ingigerd was a distant relative of Harald. Harald is thought to have taken part in Grand Prince Yaroslav's campaign against the Poles, and was appointed joint commander of defense forces. Sometime after this, Harald and his retinue of some five hundred warriors moved on to Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, where there had been at least since 1034 an elite royal guard composed largely of Scandinavian Rus and called the Varangian Guard. Harald served in the guard until 1042. In a Greek book written in the 1070s, Kekaumenos's Strategikon, Harald is described as "son of the king of Varangia" and is said to have performed so bravely in Byzantine campaigns in Sicily and Bulgaria that the Emperor appointed him first as manglabites, or member of a special section of the Emperor's personal bodyguard, and then to the title of spatharocandidate (Greek: σπαθαροκανδιδᾶτος).[3] It appears he may have been imprisoned for some time on the orders of the Empress Zoe, it is suggested on charges of misappropriation of funds, but was released, or escaped imprisonment, on the ascension of the new Emperor Constantine IX.[4]

Sometime in 1042, Harald requested permission from the emperor to return to his homeland, but it was denied. "Nonethless", remarks Kekaumenos, "he secretly escaped and ruled over the land instead of his brother [Olaf]". It is likely that the money Hardrada made whilst serving in Constantinople allowed him to fund his claim for the crown of Norway: some later Scandinavian sources note that aside from the significant spoils of battle he had retained, Harald had participated three times in polutasvarf, a term which implied either a pillaging of the palace exchequer on the death of the Emperor, or perhaps the disbursement of funds to the Varangians by the new Emperor in order to ensure their loyalty.[5] Harald had been in Constantinople through the reigns on Romanos III, Michael IV, and Michael V, and thus perhaps had three opportunities, beyond his legitimate revenues, to carry off immense wealth (with Yaroslav of Rus acting as safekeeper for his fortune [6]). Despite this, Kekaumenos lauds the "loyalty and love" Hardrada had for the Empire.[3]

Elisiv of KievIn 1045, in Rus, where he stayed two or three years before returning to Scandinavia, Harald married Elisabeth, daughter of Yaroslav and granddaughter of King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden (referred to in Scandinavian sources as Ellisif).[7] Sources claim they were engaged before his departure but Yaroslav declined to confirm the marriage until Harald distinguished himself. During his service in the Byzantine Empire, Harald wrote a love poem addressed to Elisabeth, citing his many heroic deeds and complaining that "a golden-haired maiden of Gard does not like me"[8].

I can swear that there is some story that Harold, on his way to invade England, cut St. Olav's hair and naisl (which continued to grow), took them, then locked the shrine up and threw the key into the Nidd River.

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Saint Olaf's Church in Novgorod was a church for Varangians which existed from the 11th century until the 14th century in the Russian city of Novgorod.

The church was located in the permanent Varangian centre of trade in Novgorod's trading area (torgovaja storona), which was called got'skij dvor ("Gothic court") according to an early tradition.[1] The functions of the church was not merely to provide a place of worship, but it also served as a treasury and as a warehouse, as was generally the case for churches in Varangian and Hanseatic trading colonies.[1] Like other medieval churches it was probably also a defensive structure to which may testify the Sjusta Runestone in Uppland, Sweden, which was raised after a man named Spjallboði who died in the church.[2] Omeljan Pritsak, on the other hand, suggests that Spjallboði may have died in a fire c. 1070–1080, one of several that ravaged the church.[1]

Saint Olaf began to be venerated as a saint almost directly after his death in 1030, and in 1050, the cult had arrived in England.[1] Saint Olaf had special connections with the city of Novgorod since its Grand Prince Yaroslav I the Wise was not only the brother-in-law of Olaf, but he also fostered Olaf's son Magnus I of Norway at his court.[1]

In addition to appearing on the Sjusta Runestone, Saint Olaf's church is also mentioned in two written sources. The Acta Sancti Olavi regis et martyris was written by Trondheim's archbishop Eysteinn Erlendsson in the third quarter of the 12th century.[1] It informs that a Latin priest named Stephan served in Saint Olaf's church in Novgorod (Holmegarder).[3] There is also a draft of a German treaty with Novgorod which dates to c. 1230, and it talks of Curia gotensium cum ecclesia et cimiterium Sancti Olaui, which means "the Gothic court (i.e. Got'skij dvor) with Saint Olaf's church and cemetery".[4]

The Novgorod First Chronicle only talks of the church of the Varangians (cerky ... variaz'skaja na T"rgovišči).[4] The chronicle mentions the church four times because of fires. In 1152, the church burnt down together with eight other churches, in 1181, it burnt down because of lightning.[4] In 1217, the church is mentioned as Varjaz'skaja božnica, the "Varangian shrine" and it reports that considerable amounts of merchandise belonging to the Varangians were completely lost in a fire.[4] The last mention is from 1311, when it burnt down together with seven other churches.[4]

The Acta Sancti Olavi talks of a miracle worked by Saint Olaf during a fire in Novgorod, and Pritsak suggests that it was the fire of 1152

Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth